On a perfect Friday evening in Huffman Texas, the stadium was loud, the band was rocking, and the cheerleaders were pumping up the crowd. This only mean one thing; Friday night lights are officially back for the Hargrave Falcons, and they did not disappoint. The Falcons took on the Legacy Titans of Spring in a tightly contested thriller that went wire to wire with the Falcons edging out the win 28-27.
The Falcons received the ball first and were able to capitalize on a 29-yard completion from Justin Evans to Jacob Ecckles to the legacy 41-yard line. The drive stalled out and the Falcons were forced to punt on their opening drive. The Legacy took at their own 13-yard line after a 33-yard punt by Jonathan Klepetko.
The Titans engineered an 87-yard drive that was capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run by Roric Hawkins giving the Legacy an early lead of 7-0 after the extra point.
It didn’t take the Falcons long to answer the Titans score with one of their own. On the ensuing kickoff Tyler Wilkins returned the kick 84 yards down the Legacy 8-yard line. 2 plays later, the Falcons would score on a 6-yard scramble by Quarterback Justin Evans. The extra point would tie the game at 7.
The Titans would go 3 and out on the next drive and the falcons would force the titans to punt. On the opening play of the Falcons next drive, Evans would once again hook up with Ecckles on a 14-yard pass to end the first quarter tied 7-7.
The Falcons drive would be set back by multiple penalties forcing them to punt to start the 2nd quarter. The Titans quarterback Keisean Henderson would complete a 20-yard pass to Cameron Hawkins to their own 27-yard line. Falcons Jacob Eccles would sack Henderson at the 15-yard line on the next play of the drive killing the Titans momentum and forcing another punt. The Falcons would take over on their own 37-yard line after a 41-yard punt by the titans.
On the second play of the series for the Falcons, Justin Evan would throw his first interception of the game after being picked off by Titans Jashawn Jenkins at the titans 45-yard line. On the next play, the Falcons would force a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Will Shwartz that would be returned 5 yards to the titans 44-yard line.
Justin Evans would hand the ball off on the first play of the series to running back Dylan McMullen who would take the ball 44 yards for a Falcon touchdown. The extra point would be tacked on by Klepetko and would extend the falcons lead to 14-7.
The Titans would quickly strike back on the first play of the drive with a 70-yard run by the Titans running back Roric Hawkins. The extra point would be missed by the titans bringing the score to 14-13.
The Falcons would go three and out on their next drive but after a great 52-yard punt by Klepetko, the Titans would be pinned down at their own 9-yard line. With 2 minutes left to go in the half neither team would be able to get anything going and we would go into the half with the score of 14-13 Huffman Falcons.
The Titans would receive the second half kickoff and go three and out and be forced to punt.
The Falcons would begin their drive at the own 44-yard line and go on a 10 play, 56-yard drive that was capped off with a Justin Evans 6-yard TD run. McMullen also contributed 3 carries for 28 yards on the drive. The extra point by Klepetko would make it 21-13 Falcons.
After the kickoff, the Titans would take over at their own 27 yards line. Titans would go on an impressive 8 play, 73-yard drive that concluded on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Henderson to Cameron Hawkins to make it 21-19. The 2 point try would be successful tying the game at 21 a piece.
Both teams had successive three and outs, the Falcons would begin another scoring drive and Justin Evans would score his 3rd touchdown of the game on a 14-yard quarterback keeper. The extra point was good and the falcons lead was now 28-21.
With the time running down and inside of 2 minutes, Titans quarterback Henderson was intercepted by Nolan Cook at the 10-yard line. The falcons took over and tried to run out the clock but a fumble on the first snap of the series set them behind the chains and were forced to punt out of their own end zone with a minute left on the clock.
The punt was returned by the Titans to the Falcons 2-yard line but there was a flag on the play pushing them back to the 48-yard line. With 2.2 seconds left on the clock. Henderson broke a tackle and delivered a strike to Cameron Hawkins in the end zone for a touchdown. The score was 28-27 falcons and the titans elected for the 2 point try which was broken up in the endzone and the Falcons would hold on to win 28-27.
GAME ANALYSIS:
Offensively The Falcons relied heavily on the ground game and rushed for close to 200 yards in the game. Quarterback Justin Evans carried the ball 13 times for 55 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. Falcons running back Dylan McMullen carried the ball another 12 times for 116 yards and a score. The falcons passing game showed flashes but overall was inconsistent for much of the night. Evans went 8-16 for 83 yards with one interception on a tip drill type play. Jacob Eccles would lead the receiving core with 3 catches for 46 yards and made some tight contested catches. Tyler Wilkin and Jake Moorhaj would also chip in with catches of their own. Klepetko would be a perfect 4-4 on his extra point attempts and showed a strong leg when punting.
Defensively the Falcons were a roller coaster of ups and downs. The Falcons seemed prone to giving up the big play over the course of the night. The Falcons, at times, struggled to contain the Titans QB Henderson in the pocket but would come away with 2 sacks on the nights and a forced fumble. Jake Moorhaj was able to bring down Henderson in the 2nd quarter for his first sack of the season. The second sack could probably be split between several players. Will Shwartz was the beneficiary of the forced fumble, and he was able to scoop it up advancing the ball for 5 yards before being brought down. Safeties Tyler Wilkins and Tyson Woodland had several flash plays over the course of the game. Overall, the defensive effort and toughness was there, and I think the defense will get better as the season goes along.
SPORTCAST PLAYER OF THE GAME:
The player of the game will go to Justin Evans for his 3-touchdown rushing performance in tonight’s game. In his first start at the quarterback position, Evans showed poise in the pocket, accuracy on his throws and showed that he could use his legs when needed to make a play for his team.
NOTES:
- Congratulations to Coach Joey Buchta on his first win as a head coach of the Hargrave Falcons.
- The stats provided in this article are not to be considered official team stats.
- The Falcons will travel to Silsbee on September 2nd for their first away game of the season, start time is slated for 7:30 pm.
